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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ATLANTA (AP) – Jerry Stackhouse made sure the Detroit Pistons
played like a team trying for the playoffs. The same could not be
said for the Atlanta Hawks.
"It was tough. I was just tired out there, really," Stackhouse
said. "We really had to fight through it. We need to try to keep
plugging. It was a good effort from everybody."
Stackhouse scored 31 points and Joe Smith added 16 as the
Pistons ended a five-game road losing streak with a 106-90 victory
Saturday night.
Toni Kukoc had his fourth career triple-double and his second in
the last three games, leading the Hawks with 29 points, 10 assists
and 10 rebounds.
No other Atlanta player seemed willing to match Kukoc's
intensity.
"After the first half, they pretty much let us know what kind
of game it was going to be," Hawks guard Jason Terry said. "It
was in their favor. It was up to us in that third quarter to come
out and try to change that. We didn't do it. We waited until the
fourth, and it was way too late."
Stackhouse, coming off a 46-point performance in a six-point
overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, improved
his scoring average to 33.7 points over the last seven games.
Stackhouse, the NBA's second-leading scorer, boosted his average
from 29.8 to 29.9 points per game. Allen Iverson, who missed
Philadelphia's game at Milwaukee on Saturday, leads the league with
a 31.1 average.
Detroit is four games behind Boston for the eighth and final
playoff spot in the East.
The Pistons, who won for the third time in five games, won their
third straight over Atlanta. They led by as many as 22, the first
time coming on Mikki Moore's three-point play at the end of the
third quarter.
"We're trying to find our comfort zone," Stackhouse said. "We
have some good ballplayers on our team right now. We'll take wins
any way we can get them."
Atlanta, which lost for the 12th time in 14 games, never drew
any closer than 98-86 after Terry hit a 3-pointer with 3:55
remaining. Smith answered with a 16-foot jumper from the left wing.
Terry finished with 20 points and Nazr Mohammed pulled down 19
rebounds for the Hawks.
"They were quicker to loose balls," Atlanta coach Lon Kruger
said of the Pistons. "They were quicker on the boards, in
transition, pretty much in every way in the activity areas. You
have to play through that. That's a strength of Detroit's, and they
won each of those battles tonight."
Detroit never trailed after Chucky Atkins's fastbreak layup made
it 19-18 with 3:33 to go in the first quarter.
"We didn't play as hard as we played the other night against
the Lakers," Pistons coach George Irvine said. "But I thought we
defended them better than they defended us. That's really what it
came down to."
Game notes
Atlanta, with forward Chris Crawford nursing a bad ankle
and centers Theo Ratliff and Lorezen Wright on the injured list,
dressed only 10 players. Guard Brevin Knight started despite
leaving with a left forearm contusion in the first quarter of a
103-97 loss at Indiana Friday. ... Reserve forward Corliss
Williamson scored 13 points for the Pistons, giving him a 16.6
scoring average over the last eight games.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
RECAPS
Detroit 106
Atlanta 90
Charlotte 95
Washington 93
Miami 95
Vancouver 81
New York 101
Chicago 80
Dallas 109
Phoenix 99
Houston 103
San Antonio 99
Milwaukee 87
Philadelphia 78
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